Month: February 2012

My data is backed up securely What about yours

There is a question that I am asked in most every class that I teach and during almost every presentation that I give. Ironically it is not about my cameras, though they come up often. Nor is it about my lenses, my table-top tripod or my electronic flash. The fact is that almost every photographer I encounter wants to talk about “it.” Yet few photographers have a clear answer to the question, which tells me that “it” is one of the most important (and unresolved) questions for today’s digital photographer. Read More

Some good questions

A high school photography teacher wrote me recently with some questions. As part of her ongoing credentialing for teaching photography, she needed to “…gather information/advice from those in professional photography community.” She went on to ask me a series of great questions from her students drawing on having asked them “What questions they would ask a professional if they could.” Read More

A carnival of interpretations (a video)

A carnival, like so much of life, is interpreted and experienced differently by each person. Building on that idea, I used audio, video and time lapse animation to interpret and re-interpret my own experience of a carnival in Warwick, Rhode Island. Read More

Art and commerce of selecting a workshop teacher

(Disclaimer, I am a workshop teacher as well as a veteran professional photographer)

I am a professional photographer. I am VERY proud of the fact that I make my living through my photography. I have been lucky in that most people who pay to use my work appreciate the skills it took me decades to master. I have, over time, expanded my repertoire to include workshop teaching. Over a period of years I have been working to master and excel in the process of helping others get better at their photography. As I have been doing this, I have been reminded again and again, that teaching is like any other skill: It involves practice and takes decades to fully master. Also, much like publication photography itself, the world of photography workshops is being flooded with people who have little or no skill as educators. Read More

The future of photography is women

Among the classes that I taught while I was recently in Singapore, at the behest of Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Filmmaking, was a class on street photography. At the first meeting, I scanned the room like I always do. I saw Singaporeans of all ethnicities, a few Europeans and two people from India. What I did not see among the many eager faces were any men. The class went really well with only women and it set me to thinking about how, I could argue, the future of photography is women. Read More